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Fresh calls to ban below cost alcohol in Ireland
Publicans are calling on the Irish government to ban sales of cheap booze, claiming nearly half of the alcohol sold in Ireland is “close to or below cost price”.
The Irish government is being urged to ban sales of cheap alcohol in the country
As a result, they are demanding the government to crack down on cheap alcohol sales in supermarkets, which they accuse of fuelling the problem.
The Vintners Association of Ireland (VFI) and the National Off-Licence Association (NOffLA) raised their concerns with the Oireachtas Justice Committee.
Speaking before the committee, VFI chief executive Padraig Cribben said 60% of the alcohol consumed in Ireland is now sold in off-premises, describing it as a “complete reversal” of the figures from 1999.
In addition, he added supermarkets comprise the majority of these practices with 42% of the alcohol consumed in the country being sold “close to or below cost price”.
As such, the VFI called on the government to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol.
“The government have already said the sale of cheap alcohol is a problem,” he said, as reported the Irish Independent. “They have already said they are going to tackle it by introducing a minimum unit price and what we are saying is stop talking and go and do it.”
Furthermore, Cribben explained a section of the 2008 intoxicating liquor act that is yet to come into practice, would make retailers ensure alcohol is sold in a “physically separate area with a separate till”.
The views of the VFI were mirrored by NOffLA chairman Evelyn Jones who also asked for alcohol to be separated from other store products in mixed trading premises, and that a “stringent application” of current laws regarding under-age drinking could help combat social order issues and public drinking problems.
Cribben also noted the nock-on effect off-premise sales were having on local pubs.
“The effects are obvious in the sense that you end up with job losses and pub closures,” he finished. “You end up with communities with very few places to meet.”